With Disneyland and Walt Disney World trips becoming more and more expensive, theme park fans might be tempted to look elsewhere. Many might assume that a trip overseas wouldn’t solve those issues. Au contraire! Should have saved that phrase for a Disneyland Paris post. Tokyo Disney Resort, home to two of our favorite theme parks, is significantly cheaper than you might expect. In this post, we’ll cover seven different ways that a Tokyo Disney Resort trip is cheaper than the US Disney Parks.

I’ve previously given a rough estimate on what a trip to Tokyo Disney might cost. I won’t rehash that here. Instead, this is just a brief overview of ways that an international trip is cheaper than a domestic one. Part of this is certainly because of the favorable exchange rate for Americans in 2024. Going to Japan right now is a good deal, at least once you’re there!

Why 7 ways? Because I’m too lazy to make it to 10? Because I thought of 2 more once I got to 5? You’ll never know! Maybe I just really like the number 7. No matter the case, I’m trying to hit on the biggest ways that guests save money relative to DL and WDW. I’m not going to lie and throw in airfare! That’s not cheaper. But everything I did list, I’ve found to be significantly more affordable than stateside. Let’s get to it!

Park Tickets

The biggest difference in price between the US parks and Tokyo parks is the cost of tickets. Tokyo Disney Resort uses dynamic pricing, so the cost will fluctuate depending on the dates of a visit. The weekdays are typically cheaper. But even the most expensive tickets are just over 10,000 yen. Chances are that the tickets will be even cheaper (usually in the 8,000-9,000 range) than that. As of April 2024, 10,000 yen is about $65 USD. Compared to the parks in the US, that’s a huge amount of savings.

We recently purchased our tickets for the week after Fantasy Springs, Tokyo DisneySea’s massive expansion, opens. Buying 3 days of tickets for 2 adults came out to $348 total. For the exact same days at Disneyland Resort, the total would be $780. Walt Disney World has a ticket special during that time so the price would only be $641. Suffice to say, the savings here are substantial especially with a group!

Food

Even before factoring in the fortuitous exchange rate, food is cheaper at TDR than what we’re used to. Meals can be commonly found under 1,000 yen. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a theme park upcharge compared to other areas in Japan but, by and large, we found the prices to be more palatable (no pun intended). Once the exchange rate is factored in, nice table-service restaurants become an exceptional deal and the world is your oyster, or whatever seafood you prefer to eat! On average, if Melissa and I were eating a counter-service meal and a table-service meal at Tokyo Disney Resort in one day, we’d be paying about half of what we would at Disneyland or WDW for the same thing. Over the course of 3 or 4 days that really starts to add up!

Hotels

We all dream of staying in the most luxurious of Disney hotels, within steps of a theme park. I commonly scroll through all of the Disney World deluxe hotels before inevitably making my way to one of the All Star Resort booking pages. Tokyo Disney Resort has several hotel options, with all of them close to the parks and cheaper than what you’d find at Disney World or Disneyland.

Say you want to go all out and stay at the nicest Disney hotel possible. Hotel MiraCosta, which is inside of Tokyo DisneySea, is still cheaper than most WDW deluxe hotels thanks to the exchange rate. Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is nearly as great and cheaper than that! There’s also a Hilton, Sheraton and a few other quality hotels on the monorail loop that are generally under $200/night, if not way less! Essentially, you’re paying value resort prices for deluxe accommodations at those hotels. No matter which way you go, accommodations will make a big splurge an option or will allow for a cheaper stay.

Transportation

Now that Magical Express at Walt Disney World has died a somber death, getting to Tokyo Disney Resort can be quite a bit cheaper than getting around Orlando or Anaheim. Most of this is thanks to the extensive train system in Japan, that will get you nearly anywhere you want at a decent price. There’s hardly any need for taxis or ride shares, and the trains are convenient if you plan ahead. While this won’t save you an exorbitant amount of money, it is cheaper. That’s especially true if you fly into Tokyo’s Haneda Airport instead of Narita.

Add-Ons

Like Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disney Resort does offer a few ‘pay to skip the line’ passes that are termed Disney Premier Access. They generally are 1,500-2,500 yen per attraction. That’s much cheaper than paying for Genie+ or individual Lightning Lanes at different Disney Parks stateside. On top of that, there aren’t really any other add-on purchases at Tokyo Disney Resort. Hard ticket events aren’t offered there and guests are basically paying for a day’s theme park ticket, going to experience what’s offered and that’s that! It’s a much simpler experience than trying to sort through what all you want to pay for at Disneyland or WDW.

Merchandise

I’ll admit, I don’t buy souvenirs often. But it’s a big part of a trip for many! While forking over 35 bucks for a pair of Mickey Ears (is it a pair? I guess so) is not a second thought here, it might be after you pay $15 for them at TDR. All of the merch throughout the resort will be cheaper than what you’ll find stateside and that’s before you go bargain hunting in Tokyo!

Convenience (Stores)

Disney World’s bubble giveth and taketh. One of the downsides is that there are very few options to go get cheap snacks, meals or groceries. Even though Disneyland Resort is far more integrated into Anaheim, the cheaper places within walking distance aren’t the best in terms of quality. This is a spot where Tokyo Disney Resort really shines as convenience stores are easy to find and enjoy. The legend of Japan’s convenience stores knows no bounds. To quote Han Solo, “It’s true, all of it.”

Grabbing a cheap meal of fried chicken or an egg salad sandwich is easily attainable. Grabbing drinks for the week? That won’t cost more than $15. Want to try some traditional Japanese food or wild chip flavors that you’ve never heard of? Convenience stores have you covered. Grabbing breakfast here instead of in the parks will be much cheaper and likely just as good!

There are stores in each of Tokyo Disney’s hotels that will offer decent prices on snacks and drinks. They aren’t convenience stores but they are convenient. Maihama Station (where guests arrive to get to TDR) has a NewDays which has a decent selection. Several of the partner hotels (Hilton, Sheraton, etc.) at the monorail’s Bayside Station have convenience stores in them. At WDW and Disneyland, guests may be sacrificing time to go find cheaper items. In Tokyo, the cheaper options are far more… convenient!

Do you have any questions about saving money at Tokyo Disney Resort? Let us know in the comments below. If you are planning a trip to the resort then check out our Tokyo Disney Resort Planning Guide. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email.  All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!